'Pure Land' Wins National Outdoor Book Award

Annette McGivney's Pure Land, which recounts a 2006 murder in the Grand Canyon, won the Outdoor Literature category at this year's awards. As the judges wrote:

Havasu Creek. Its aqua colored waters, quiet pools and breathtaking falls, deep in the Grand Canyon, is one of the most beautiful places in all of the American Southwest. It’s truly a backpacker’s paradise, and many thousands have made the eight-mile hike into Supai, a small, remote Indian village, to spend time there. But in 2006, the serenity of Havasu was shattered when a young Japanese woman was murdered by a Native American. Author Annette McGivney, Backpacker Magazine’s Southwest Editor, investigates the circumstances behind the incident. What emerges from her investigations is a captivating and an extraordinarily well crafted story, and one which takes a surprise twist as she finds her own life inexorably drawn into the narrative.

McGivney wrote on Facebook that she was "honored and grateful" for the award.